The present invention relates, in general, to devices for use in bending metal or other materials, and specifically, to tools for bending bone plates or other surgical devices.
Various types of surgical devices (e.g., bone plates, surgical rods, or other implantable devices) are commonly used to, inter alia, treat or reduce fractures of bone, correct deformities and/or alignment of bones, including in the spine, and fuse or otherwise treat damaged bones, most notably, vertebral bodies. Particular applications of such surgical devices may require the surgical device to conform to the shape of the bone being treated, which may be necessary, for example, in regions of the body such as near the clavicle, in spinal applications, or in other areas. Certain surgical devices may be pre-contoured for this purpose (i.e., to conform to a particular bone shape), and may therefore satisfy the particular demands of a patient. However, in many cases patients have varying anatomical confines, which make it difficult to pre-contour a particular surgical device to meet the needs of all patients. Given this limitation, the surgical device, when lacking the proper contour, must be shaped or bent to match the surface of bone to which it is being applied.
Numerous tools have been developed to assist with proper contouring of various surgical devices. Many of these tools are hand tools generally configured as pliers-type devices with handles for gaining leverage and applying a bending force to the plate or other device being contoured. Examples of such bending pliers are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,473,257, and 7,229,446, among others. Table top bending apparatus are also used, as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,087. In many cases, however, it may be difficult to gain the necessary leverage to bend the bone plate or other device, which may place strain on the surgeon or other user of the tool. The particular bending apparatus used may also be too large and/or cumbersome to utilize effectively during a surgical procedure. Further, precision bending is a significant issue when using the aforementioned bending devices.
Therefore, there exists a need for an improved bending apparatus, which is easier to utilize.